Means for bringing up cars to tipples.



E. G. DEUCHER.

MEANS FOR BRINGING UP CARS TO TIPPLES.

APPLlCATlON FILED JUNE 23. l9l3.

Patented Dec. 28, 19l5.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

Inventor Witnesses:

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COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH c0..\v,\sHL\GToN. n. c.

E. G. DEUCHER.

MEANS FOR BRINGING UP CARS T0 TIPPLES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 23, 1913' Patented Dec. 28, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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witnesses:

mtmmay COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH co.. \VASHXNGTON n, c.

UNIT STATS FAENT FFIQE.

EUGENE G. DEUCHER, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE BROWN HOISTING-MACHINERY COMPANY, OF

GLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION.

MEANS FOR BRINGING UP CARS TO TIPILES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 2%, 1915.

1 b all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EUGENE Gr. DnUonER, acitizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county ofCuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Means for Bringing Up Cars to Tipples, as to which I hereby declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description, referencebeing had to the several drawin s accom an in and forming a part of thespecifications, and wherein similar parts are designated by the samenumerals in each case.

. As is well understood by those who have to do with the handling ofcoal, ore and like gross material by modern methods, one or another ofthe accepted types of tipple, is stationed at a predetermined pointwhere the cars are to be successively overturned and emptied of theirloads. Such point and tipple is, of course, at some dock or other placeof transshipment at the terminal of the railways by which the materialto be handled or transshiped is imported, and, the methods in question,in every instance, involve specially designed trackways and equipmentsfor taking the loaded cars from the main tracks and sidings, andbringing them up to and feeding them into the tipple. Heretoforelay-outs of this description have essentially consisted of an approachtrack leading upwardly to the tipple, duly connected to the supplytrack, and a subsidiary track, included within the approach track, onwhich a truck or pusher-car, commonly known as the ground-hog, isappropriately mounted so as to be drawn up the grade toward the tipple,in a rear contact with the loaded cars, by a drum and cable provided forthe purpose. In these designs the subsidiary track terminates at thelowest point of the grade in an abrupt descent into a pit, located belowthe approach trackway, of suitable dimensions to receive the ground hogtherein without its protruding above said trackway. The loaded cars areswitched onto the approach track and brought to a rest thereon betweenthe tipple and said pit immediately in front of the pit. The pushercaror ground-hog is then pulled in toward the tipple when it will rise upfrom the pit behind the loaded car and, of course,

propel the latter up the grade until it enters the tipple and is inplace for clamping nd overtu ning. Thereupon the pusher car is allowedto return, by force of gravity, down its track into the pit and anothercar is brought down in front of the pit, to be propelled upwardly, inturn, as before. It is evident that when the lay-out for a tipple is asjust described, asecond car can never be brought down the approach trackto the point for engagement by the pusher-car un til the latter hasreturned from the tipple, and is in the pit behind said point. Anappreciable loss of time in bringing up cars is thus occasioned, betweeneach operation, which, on the whole, amounts to a natural slowing up ofthe machine from its maximum capacity, and a corresponding failure torealize the full value represented by the plant.

The purpose of the present invention is to improve upon said prevailingsystem of engaging and bringing up cars, so that the operation of thetipple may be more con tinuously and rapidly maintained.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a tipple with a sectional view ofthe approaches thereto. Fig. 2 is a plan view of a tipple with itsapproach and supply tracks. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the outer endof the pit, with the several tracks involved, and the pusher-car in itsinitial position. Fig. t is a plan view of such pit-portion and tracks.Fig. 5 is a plan view of the pushercar, within such portion and of theadjacent track arrangements. Fig. 6 is a sectional view, on the line 00w in Fig. 3. Fig. 7 is a like view on the line 7 3 Fig. 8 is a sectionalview on the lines 3 g in Fig. 9 of the approach track and pitentrance.Fig. 9 is a half-plan view of Fig. 8. Fig. 10 is a similar view of analternative arrangement of the tracks at the entrance. Fig. 11 is asectional view on the line 2 e, in Fig. 10, with the rails for thebridge-section shown in full and, dotted lines, in their extremepositions. Fig. 12 is abroken plan view of certain details of thearrangement shown in F ig. 10. I

In the drawings 1 represents the tipple, characterized by the usualframework construction, with an emptied car 2 therein ready to be loadedcar 3.

4L is the approach-track which extends, from a kick-back 5 at its outerterminal, downwardly, by a slight gradient, to and along a horizontal orlevel section midway 11c pushed out by an incoming of the tipple, andthence rises gradually to the tipple 1. Supply-tracks 6 and 7, areindicated as leading, from the car-yard or a main railway line, througha common trackway 8 to the approach track at a point thereon betweensaid lever section and the outer terminal at 5. Intermediately of therails of the tracks 4, is a track 9 for the pushercar 10. Saidpusher-track 9 extends from the tipple down the approach track into andalong a subway 11, beneath the portion of said track where the loadedcars are to be engaged, wherein the ground-hog will disappear after eachtrip to the tipple. This subway 11, in the improvement underconsideration-unlike the corresponding pitfeature of prevailingarrangements of the kind is much prolonged in the direction of the track4, although of the same depth and cross-dimensions as in other cases. Itbegins at a point fully a cars length nearer the tipple beneath thehorizontal portion of the approach track referred to and ends at theusual and proper distance to enable the pusher-car to be brought up fromits terminal in the pit, to and behind the loaded cars when the latterhave been brought into place in said horizontal section of the track 4.Upon the level portionof this latter track 4, between entrance and exitpassageways, 12 and 13, to and from said subway and above the subway,between the rails of said track 4, is a secondary track 14 for thepusher-car. It is in every way similar to, and in reality is a portionand continuation of the main track 9 upon its surface level, but withinterruptions by and on account of the span of the passageways referredto. In consequence it is not only necessary to arrange for the ascent ofthe pusher to this trackway 14 from the farther terminal of the subway,but also for its passage over said track-intervals between the tracks 9and 14 occasioned by said passageways. To this end, and, in order thatthe pusher-car shall, at the same time, ascend horizontally, I provide,at the outer end of the subway, the parallelly arranged inclinedswitchsections 15 and 16, for the front and rear pairs of the pusherswheels. The section 15 is hinged to the end of the track 14 and inclinesdownwardly to the track 9 below, while the section 16 is similarlyhinged, but to an auxiliary track 17 that extends above and across themouth of the pit at this point, between the rails of the approach track4 and the secondary track 14 projected. Said hinge-points of the twosections must, of course, be at a distance from each other preciselycorresponding to the longitudinal dimension of the wheel base of thetruck or pusher itself.

In order that the pusher 10 shall accommodate itself to the severaltracks involved, the tread of its rear wheels is of sufficient width toengage, as occasion requires, and be in bearing with both theswitch-section 16, and, thereafter, the tracks 14 and 17. In order thatthe truck 10, when thus brought up onto the track 1?, may cross over theinterval caused by the mouth or entrance of the passageway 12,arrangement at this point that will close at the approach, toward thetipple, of said truck, and, thereafter, automatically open to permit thepusher, upon. its return, to reenter the subway, through the passageway12. Said arrangement, as illustrated in the drawings, consists of abridge-switch or rail sections 18, of a suitable length to span theinterval between the rails of the track 14 and the track 9, due to thepassageway 12. Said switch is arranged so that its rails, in normal orclosed position, will be in alinement with the rails of the tracks 9 and14. The rails of the switch are keyed to transverse shafts 19 thatextend out laterally of the rails of the tracks 4, and through a pair ofears 20 upon housings 21, located on eachside of said rails 4. Betweenthe ears,

and keyed to the shafts 19, are downwardly extending arms 21, pivoted tothe end of plunger-rods 22, of a spring 23 within said housing. Theother ends of the rods 22 are pivotally connected to the upper end of anupright lever 24in each case, whose lower ends are similarly connectedto fixed bearings 25. Connecting-rods 26 extend from the middle pointsof the levers 24, in the direction of the track, to the up aer ends oflevers 27, which are keyed at their lower ends to a transverse shaft 28,the latter being supported at each end by fixed bearings 29 at the sidesof the track 4. On this shaft, near its ends, are keyed the upwardlyinclined levers 80, pivoted, at their upper ends to brackets 31 thatdepend for the purpose from the inner faces of the rails of the track 4.The track 4 from this point thereof to a predetermined point between thesubway and tipple is constructed as a unit-portion of the entire track4, and is free to move,

as such with respect to the rest of the track,

upon and around theinclined levers 30 just described, and correspondinginclined levers 32, that are similarly located at the other end of saidmovable track section (Fig. 8). Ancillary tension springs 33 are shownas connecting the levers last above referred to to fixed anchorages at34.. r

In Figs. 11. and 12 is shown an alternative arrangement for bridgingover the interval in the pusher-track at the entrance to the passageway12. It consists of the laterally movable rails 35, at such point, of alength to span said entrance and to extend on either side thereof to asufficient distance to become severally engaged and actuated-ashereinafter explained-by the wheels of the P he a e t ppr a hes item eher 39 I provide a draw-bridge V rection. Said rails are reversely oralternately tapered on their sides at the endsas at 36 and 37to adegree, dependent upon their own dimensions and location in eachparticular construction, in connection with the tread and flanges of thewheels of the pusher-car to be employed. The location of the rails andthe angle of their taper,

in every instance, must be such, with rela-' tion to said treads andflanges, as to insure the engagement of the outside face of the railsections along the taper by the inside face of the flanges when thepusher ear is traveling toward the tipple and said entrance to thepassageway 12, and, of the inside face of the rail-section, along thetaper, by the outside face of the flanges, when the pusherear istraveling from the tipple toward said entrance. The tread of the wheelsmust, in turn, be of the proper dimensions, in view of the particulardimensions and location of the movable rails 35, to span the same andthe rails of the track 14, when the flanges of said wheels have moved upand along the tapers 37 and crowded the rails 35 in against said trackand rails for the purpose.

The rails 35, in their stated positions between and parallel with therails of the track 14, are severally mounted upon a system of uprightparallel bars 39, 39, which pivotally engage, at their lower ends, afixed support 40, and, at their upper ends, the downwardly extendinglever-arms 41 that project from or are firmly secured to the rails 14for the purpose. An actuatingspring 42, for holding the system, and therails supported thereby, in the normal position, when not traversed bythe pusher, is shown as interposed between and connecting the lever-arms11 to an opposite fixed anchorage 43.

By means of the prolonged pit and track details described, it will bemanifest that the operation of feeding cars to tipples will bematerially expedited as compared with prevailing methods of the kind.

A car having been sent down the approach track to a point in front ofthe entrance to the passageway 13, the pusher is immediately brought upupon the inclined switchsections 15 and 16 to the rear of the waitingcar, to propel the same along its track 1. When the propelled carreaches the vertical movable portion of said track 4, its weight willdepress the rails and, the inclined levers 30 and 32 thereby, throughthe connecting rods 26, the plunger-rods 22 and the arms 21, turning theshafts 19, so that the bridgeswitch 18, keyed to the same, will, inconsequence, rotate downwardly across the pas sageway 12 and close thetrack interval at that point for the traverse of the pusher-car.Obviously as soon as the car has passed said movable portion of itstrack, the reverse action of the springs 23 and 33, upon the severalparts involved, will rotate the switch 18 back to its normal position,and leave the passageway 12 open and unobstructed for the return of thepusher-car therethrough, along the track 9, past the hinged sections 15and 16 to its starting point near and below the exit-space 13, withoutthe necessity-as in present methods-of retraversing the portion of theapproach track where the cars are to be engaged for propulsion. Inconsequence, when one car has been pro pelled upwardly from this part ofits track, such part may be immediately occupied by the next car to bepropelled, without the need of waiting until the pusher has returnedfrom the tipple and gained a sunken pit or place beyond such point ofengagement. Similarly, in the use of the alternative arrangementdescribed, when the pusher-car has been brought up through thepassageway 13, and has started a car upward from its place on the track4, above, the inside faces of the flanges of the front wheels of thepusher-car will encounter the tapers 37 of the laterally movable rails35, which, by the parallel movement of the supporting bars 39, will becarried over toward the rails of the track 14: within the tread of thewheels. These supplemental rails 35 will thus serve as the bridge acrossthe space 12 for the pusher-car, but, under the force of the spring 42,will at once resume their normal position when the rearwheels of thepusherhave passed beyond the bridge section, and its rails are no longerunder the constraint of the flanges. Underthe conditions shown, when thepusher-car returns, the outer face of the rear wheels must encounter thereversed tapers 36 and the car continue on the track 9, down thepassageway 12 and, through the hinged sections 15, 16, to the furtherterminal of the subway 11.

Having thus described my said invention, what I claim and wish toprotect by Letters Patent, is:--

1. A means for bringing up cars to tipples comprising an approach-track,inclining downwardly therefrom; a subway extending beneath said trackthe length of the car to be brought up; passageways at the ends of thesubway to the track; a main pusher-track, intermediate of theapproachtrack, extending from the tipple through the nearer passagewayand subway to the farther passageway; track, intermediate of theapproach-track, between said passageways; movably sus pendedswitch-connections between said main and secondary track through the farther passageway, and switch connections between said tracks across thenearer passageway; a pusher-car adapted to traverse s i racks for the nardly f om a secondary pusher.

the tipple by gravity, and to be propelled upwardly on said tracks andswitches for the same, together with suitable means for propelling thecar accordingly, substantially as shown and described. I 2. In means forbringing up cars to tipples, an appr0achtrack, a subway along the linethereof having passageways to said track at its ends, a mainpusher-track eX- tending int-erniediately of the approachtrack throughthe nearer of said passageways to and along said subway, a secondarypusher-track, intermediate of the approach track, between saidpassageways, and a switch-section hinged to the farther end of saidsecondary track and inclining downwardly through said passageway at theend of the subway to said track below, substantially as shown anddescribed.

3. In means for propelling cars upwardly Copies of this patent may beobtained for on an approach trackbya pusher-car, the

combination of a subway along the line of said track having passagewaysto said track at its ends, a main pusher-track extending intermediatelyoi the approach-track through the nearer of said passageways to andalong said subway, a secondary pushertrack, intermediate of theapproach-track, between said passageways, suitable railinechanisin, atthe nearer end of said secondary-track, for bridging over the spacesbetween the rails of said main and secondary. tracks at such point, whenactuated by the pusher-car, and apusher-car traversable' on said mainand secondary tracks, substantially as shown and described.

EUGENE G. DEUCHER. In presence of- L. P. LIPPS, JAsB. HAYDEN.

five cents each, by addressing the Gommissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

